Know Willie Geist better!

Willie Geist/William Russell Geist is an American journalist, TV personality, author, and humorist. He is currently working as the co-anchor of ‘Morning Joe’ on MSNBC; anchor of the show ‘Sunday Today with Willie Geist’; co-anchor of the 3rd hour of The Today Show ‘Today’s Take’ on NBC; as a correspondent for NBC Sports and NBC News; as a substitute anchor for the program ‘Today for Matt Lauer’; and as a contributor and host of the Olympic coverage by NBC.

Willie has authored 2 humorous books which have featured in the bestseller list of The New York Times; they are “American Freak Show: The Completely Fabricated Stories of Our New National Treasures” and “Good Talk, Dad” co-authored with his dad Bill Geist. In 2011, he authored a satire book called ‘Loaded! Become a Millionaire Overnight and Lose 20 Pounds in 2 Weeks or Your Money Back!’

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Early Life

Willie was born on May 3, 1975 in Evanston, Illinois to Jody Geist, a social worker, and Bill Geist, a columnist, author, and current correspondent at CBS News.

Geist went to Ridgewood High School located in Ridgewood, NJ. He captained the school basketball and football teams. He then attended Nashville’s Vanderbilt University, where he was the editor of ‘The Vanderbilt Hustler’ the official student paper of the university.

Career

The career of Geist began when he started working as a producer and editor for CNN Sports Illustrated. He later worked as a reporter and field producer for CNN Sports.

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Willie moved to Fox Sports Net in 2004 and worked as a producer and writer for a commentary program called “I, Max” which was anchored by Max Kellerman. In 2005, he moved to MSNBC and began working on the show ‘The Situation with Tucker Carlson,’ as a senior producer. Two years later he became a substitute co-host on the 6 to 9 AM time slot programming on MSNBC. In September 2007, he became a permanent co-anchor on the popular show ‘Morning Joe’ with Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough.

In 2009, Geist was named as the host of ‘Way Too Early with Willie Geist’ a 30-minute show that aired just before Morning Joe. He substituted as a newsreader and anchor of Matt Lauer’s Today Show in 2010. In 2012, Willie left his show ‘Way Too Early’ after he was appointed as the official co-anchor of the Today Show. He became the solo host of Sunday Today show in 2016.

Wife and Children

Geist married Christina Sharkey, his high-school sweetheart, in May 2003 in Humacao, Puerto Rico. The couple has a son and a daughter.

Trivia

Hockey Hall of Famer Herbie Lewis is the great grandfather of Geist. Herbie won 2 Stanley Cups as the captain of the Detroit Red Wings.

Documentary film producer and Peabody Award winner Libby Wildes is the younger sister of Willie.

Willie did voice work for the movie ‘Kung Fu Panda 3.’

On 12th June 2016, Geist anchored the NBC News Special Report about the 2016 Orlando gay nightclub shooting for 7 straight hours.

Willie Geist – Salary and Net Worth

Willie earns an annual salary of around $2.5 million and his net worth is estimated to be about $6 million.